


Cold

by graywhatsit



Series: Hatbots [3]
Category: The Yogscast
Genre: Alternate Universe - Robots & Androids, Gen, Hat Films, Hypothermia, hatbots, kind of
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-08
Updated: 2015-06-08
Packaged: 2018-04-03 11:21:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,784
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4099177
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/graywhatsit/pseuds/graywhatsit
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Cold climates are not kind to androids, especially when their creator is someone like Smith.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Cold

By now, we all know that Alex Smith is not a particularly _good_ engineer, of any sort.

Sure, he can build amazing things: animatronics, home gadgets, toys, even the first two and only androids the world has ever seen. He’s _brilliant_ and _creative…_

But that doesn’t make him _good_.

Focused on the big picture, he can- and _does_ \- make serious errors. Take the voice modulator, for instance.

Or the rogue animatronics- not that he actually knows about that.

He’s careless, even reckless with his work- that’s how part of his house burned down- and whatever he misses in his quest to make the big, grand creation isn’t even noticed until it causes a problem.

Such as.. this incident.

 

Even during the winter, it never actually got _cold_ where they lived. Yeah, chilly for the people living there, enough to be uncomfortable without a coat, but never really below freezing. It just didn’t happen due to their location in the world.

At least, every year other than this one.

Whilst it wasn’t the coldest winter Alex could remember- that was when it had snowed so much he actually didn’t have to go to school, all those years ago; best few days of his life- it was a close second. Nowhere was really safe, unless you had really good heating, as businesses tended to.

Houses, however..

Non-carpeted surfaces felt like frostbite waiting to happen, going to bed without warm socks and a sweater was just _asking_ to be woken up frozen solid, and getting out of the shower was a race against hypothermia.

He really, _really_ didn’t like the cold, but his companions didn’t really seem to mind too much.

Sure, the androids could _feel_ the cold, they just weren’t bothered. They could function just as well in these temperatures as warmer ones, and there was no need to be weighed down by bulky winter clothing. It was more amusing than anything, hearing everyone else complain.

Until the very first day it crept below freezing.

 

When Ross powered back on, he usually felt energized, ready to get up and move. Tank is full, so use it, right?

This morning, though, he felt sluggish. So very slow- did he not plug in correctly? Reaching an arm back to his port took what seemed like years, and it felt like- if he even could move quickly- his entire body could splinter and crack at any moment.

It actually _hurt_ to move, but with some moaning and groaning, he managed to reach where the plug met his port..

…and found it perfectly snug in the socket. Exactly as it had been when he’d shut down for the night.

What the fuck?

“Tr..” Oh, god, even speaking took so much effort, with that same tension, ready to snap. “Tr..ott. Trott.” One word down, but he didn’t think he could go for any more. Trott woke up much easier than Smith did, so he’d be the first to turn to in this case.

Except… he didn’t.

Not that he didn’t wake up, it was just _slow_. His eyes opened, he became aware, but it was like trying to swim through molasses. It took so much energy to even come online- what was happening?

“R..” Seems he couldn’t speak, either, and Ross just managed to shake his head. Not worth the expenditure; a simple look of _what the actual fuck_ would suffice.

The shorter construct blinked lethargically, taking a few seconds to actually get the meaning his friend was trying to convey. Right. Plugged in. What about charge? They could get insufficient power restoration if the power went out at some point, which could have happened due to the cold. Okay, run diagnostics.

….

**[…P..ow..er.. Re..ma…ini..ng…: 100..%]**

Even his processor was taking ages, and from his friend’s blank stare, Trott could guess the same for him. Full power.. so why was it taking such a long time? Some sort of bug, perhaps? A quick scan was out of the question- what could normally take a minute at the most could take fifteen now. He had to wake Smith; they couldn’t do this on their own.

His entire arm felt as though it would shatter as he reached for the human, still

snoring. It hurt, like it was stuck, like he was out of lubricant, but that couldn’t be. They’d had maintenance just a few days ago, everything should be working smoothly.

“Sm..ith.” Ross, having had a bit more practice with his voice, spoke out for him. “W..ake.. up.”

Not a thing. God damn heavy sleepers. But the second Trott’s hand touched the engineer’s skin, he bolted awake.

“Fucking hell!” Alex shivered violently, scrunching up a little to get away from the ice cold hand. “Trott? What the fuck are you doing? That’s not fucking funny!”

“H..elp.”

The single word from the other construct made Alex freeze (no pun intended). That was so slow, so drawn out; even as quiet and stuttering as it was, he sounded _scared_. Just as the both of them looked.

“What’s happened?” He immediately snapped into engineer-mode, checking his friends over. Looked fine from the outside, just icy-cold and frightened.

Relatively fine.

“Sl..ow. H.. hurts.” He was getting a little better, but Ross’ brow furrowed, frustrated.

Hurts? The both of them? No bug he knew of would cause random pain like that. “Have you run diagnostics? Do you have power?”

“Full. Ev..ryth..ing..fine.” Single syllables only, then. “Run slow. So slow.”

So he’d need to go in and check, himself. Possibly. Another icy touch on his skin brought him out of his thoughts with a jolt.

“Trott, can you fucking stop? You’re.. freezing..” Wait.

Oh.

Oh, _fuck_.

 

Remember how I said he doesn’t remember the little things?

Oh, he remembered to put everything in, eventually. Or so he thought.

Except for one thing in particular, something every machine running in cold weather needs: antifreeze.

His friends were freezing solid because he was too focused on the end goal.

Before you start in on him, give him a bit of a break- he’s beating himself up over it enough.

He cursed himself, over and over, before getting out of bed, quick-stepping over the freezing floor, hurrying for the workshop. He must have some in there, right? Surely he must.

After pretty much tearing the room apart- he’d need to apologize to Trott for wrecking his careful organization, again- he found that _no_ , he didn’t. Not a drop.

Which meant, if he didn’t find something to keep them warm while he went to get some-

Well.

Okay, so if he didn’t have antifreeze.. did he have a heater of some sort? Small heaters aren’t uncommon, and with all of the junk he had in here, he must have somewhere.

If he _didn’t_ have one.. well, maybe he could cobble one together. That didn’t, he thought after a moment, use his soldering iron as a heat source.

He didn’t want to be homeless for the winter, or at all.

His house had already burnt down, at least partially, once; his insurance wouldn’t have another incident.

Much, _much_ more digging, and one.. actually, for once, organized room later- how he managed to get it back to neatness in throwing everything he owned around, he had no idea- he found one. Sure, it was a little old, and needed a new plug, but it’d work.

And just in time, too- when he returned with the heater in hand, his friends hardly even moved to acknowledge him. If he took any longer, he’d have icicles instead of androids; they’d need more heat than even this little machine could provide.

Or, maybe.. He glanced over at his dresser.

Maybe they needed more _insulation_ , as well.

 

“You what?”

“Come _on_ , Trott, just put it on.”

“Why should I?”

“Because insulation, that’s why- look, Ross is wearing it.” Alex gestured towards the other robot, looking quite happy in his current wear.

“Trott, it’s nice and soft and warm. You’ll feel better!”

The shortest of the three gave him a glare- the glowing testimonial didn’t exactly sway him.

“He’s about your size, it’s fine for him. It’ll look like some sort of tent on me!”

The engineer rolled his eyes, once again shoving the hoodie towards him. “You’ll look like a tent, but you’ll be warm and flexible. Put it on.”

He huffed and grumbled, but took the dark red garment. From what he’d understood of all of his observation and study, wearing someone else’s clothes _meant_ something. Different to the companionship they all already shared, but.. neither Ross nor Smith seemed to see it. Maybe it was just him, thinking too much.

Or feeling things he likely shouldn’t.

Not the time; this was a matter of freezing, and so he shrugged it on, zipping it all the way up.

Only to get snorts from his companions.

“Uh.. Trott? Alright?” Ross couldn’t keep his grin away for long, though to his credit, he did try. Sort of.

The hood flopped down over Trott’s eyes, and he shoved it back, managing to look quite embarrassed despite his lack of flush. “Shut _up_.”

Alex did no such thing, also grinning and reaching to put his hood up again, ruffling it against his hair. “Aww, Trotty! He looks like a little kid, look at him.”

“Fuck off!” He swiped at the hand, sleeves covering his own, and replaced the hood. “That’s it, it’s coming off-”

“No, don’t. Seriously, that’ll keep you warm, at least until I get back.” A little hint of the laughter remained, but he did sound sincere. “It won’t be very long, then you can take it off. Promise.”

“ _Thank_ you.” Trott settled back in his spot, arms crossed and looking rather displeased. “Hurry up, please.”

“Mm. Not sure how long that heater will last,” Ross agreed, eyeing the small box warily.

Oh, great- what a way to guilt trip him. “Thanks, mate,” Alex replied, dryly, before reaching out to pat both of them. “Stay warm, safe, all that. I’ll be back.”

 

It was all fixed rather quickly once he returned. Simply mix in the new fluid into the pre-existing veins, tinker with this and that, and they were done. No more locking up when it froze, and no need for heaters or sweaters.

That said… they did ask for them. Seemed to have grown on them in that short while he was gone, and how could he deny them? Besides, they’d look a hell of a lot more normal, especially with their own, properly-fitting ones.

He never did get his maroon hoodie back, though, but really, he didn’t mind- it looked much better on Trott, anyway.


End file.
